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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Corruption and a rigged political system are battle cries of both sides in a debate over whether New Yorkers should vote this fall to rewrite the state constitution.Advocates of a "yes" vote say a constitutional convention is the only way to fix dysfunction, corruption and inefficiency in government and throw the bums out of Albany.Environmental groups fear a convention could open the door to delete or weaken protections for clean air and water, healthy forests and the 6-million-acre (2.4-million hectare) Adirondack Park.The real money involved in this is the labor unions that are trying to block a convention because they have great sway with this government and don't want it to change, said Gerald Benjamin, a political science professor and co-editor of a new book, New York's Broken Constitution:Right-to-Life and Planned Parenthood; the Conservative Party and left-leaning Working Families Party; LGBT Network and New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.Benjamin said a convention is the only way to fix problems with administration of elections, campaign finance, the structure of the court system and the Legislature, which he believes would be more effective with one house instead of two.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state agency launched four years ago to protect the disabled from abuse and neglect was staffed with a team of investigators and prosecutors empowered to bring criminal cases against alleged wrongdoers. But it lacked one key thing, according to three recent court rulings: the legal authority to actually prosecute anyone.That has potentially put dozens of convictions in jeopardy and threatens to undermine the mission of the agency, known as the Justice Center, to protect the 1 million disabled, addicted and mentally ill in state care.

Rafael “Rafa” Marquez – who played for the NY Red Bulls before becoming captain of Mexico’s National Team – has been secretly acting as a frontman for a Mexican drug kingpin, according to the US Treasury Dept. Marquez, 37, is one of close to two dozen people the Treasury Dept. on Wednesday said has been helping hide...

Digital short | With the death toll in President Rodrigo Duterte's harsh crackdown on drug-users still rising, one group of young men perform acrobatic motorcycle stunts as a way to escape the violence, and also honor their friends caught in the crossfire.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Motel 6 has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by Los Angeles that alleged one of the chain's locations was a base for human traffickers, drug dealers and gang members, prosecutors said.Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the money will be used to help deter human trafficking.The city in November sued the managers of a motel in the Sylmar neighborhood and G6 Hospitality Property LLC, which operates the Motel 6 chain, seeking to quell "unrelenting crime and nuisance activity."Los Angeles police had made more than 60 arrests at the location since 2013 for prostitution, battery, firearms possession and drug-related charges, authorities said.

A company based in Texas has recalled a coffee product after a substance found in a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction was found in the product, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed. Bestherbs Coffee LLC has recalled all of its “New of Kopi Jantan Tradisional Herbs Coffee” after the FDA said it found...